USS Independence LCS-2 by CDW - FINISHED - Trumpeter - 1:350 - PLASTIC

[lmagna]

Time to make her a modest lady! 

[CDW]

When she went inside the paint booth and got her first coat of gray paint, I was shocked, it looked horrible! Lumpy, bumpy, and just outright horrible. Vallejo Model Air paints. So I was almost persuaded to wash it all off and start over again, except all the photo etch I put on would be ruined if I did that, as I use a water based acrylic glue for PE, not CA. Second thought was to put another wet coat on and just let it sit all night in hopes it would level itself out while drying. 

Bingo! It worked. Completely leveled itself out overnight and averted a disaster. if it hadn't leveled out to look decent, I was ready to scrap the whole model and start over again with a new kit. Whew...close call. 

At the moment, I am weathering the model with pigments, starting from the bow and working toward the stern. Will add some more pigments and a wash or two to get the effect I want. Hopefully, will get this stage of the pigments finished by the end of the day. 

 

Edited August 1, 2018 by CDW
wrong photos

[Old Collingwood]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

When she went inside the paint booth and got her first coat of gray paint, I was shocked, it looked horrible! Lumpy, bumpy, and just outright horrible. Vallejo Model Air paints. So I was almost persuaded to wash it all off and start over again, except all the photo etch I put on would be ruined if I did that, as I use a water based acrylic glue for PE, not CA. Second thought was to put another wet coat on and just let it sit all night in hopes it would level itself out while drying. 

Bingo! It worked. Completely leveled itself out overnight and averted a disaster. if it hadn't leveled out to look decent, I was ready to scrap the whole model and start over again with a new kit. Whew...close call. 

At the moment, I am weathering the model with pigments, starting from the bow and working toward the stern. Will add some more pigments and a wash or two to get the effect I want. Hopefully, will get this stage of the pigments finished by the end of the day. 

 

Great comeback  -  I feel your pain when paintwork doesnt go to plan,   but its leveled nicely now though.

 

OC.

[GrandpaPhil]

Very nicely done!

[CDW]

20 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Great comeback  -  I feel your pain when paintwork doesnt go to plan,   but its leveled nicely now though.

 

OC.

It's the worst I ever had this Vallejo paint come out of the bottle. Don't know why. Most people I talk to say they use Vallejo Model Air paint straight from the bottle into their airbrush without any reducer. It doesn't work that way for me through my H&S airbrush. If I use it straight from the bottle, it will clog my airbrush every time...and I have even tried it with a larger needle and seat with the same results. Clogs, spitting, and sputtering. It's hard as heck to find a reduced mix ratio that will spray smoothly out of my airbrush.

I have some AK Interactive paints on order as they are not available locally, but I was too impatient for them to arrive. 

[lmagna]

Great job in both the recovery and the weathering. Your weathering  is looking exactly like the pictures! 

[chj]

I have had problems with all the water-based paints and airbrushing; even had problems from color to color with the same manufacturer. What I do now is adjust the compressor settings and thinner amounts every time I paint on a test piece before painting the model. Its a PITA, but it works.

[CDW]

This is the paint work done on the Independence today. More to follow tomorrow if everything goes well, landing deck and anti-foul hull paint. After that, the details can be added.

[CDW]

Deck is painted, vents are shaded in...various details to continue, then some anti foul hull paint. 

[lmagna]

The contrast adds a lot to the look. I'm glad you went to the darker color. Some of the pictures make the deck look almost as light as the hull. It's really going to pop when you add the landing markers.

[popeye the sailor]

sounds to me like your paint was drying right out of the air brush.  it happens when all of the variables are right.....temp of the paint,  air temp,  vs how much thinner {in your case,  reducer}.......great way to make spatter paint.  are you thinning with water...or something else?  I've been having that problem with my billing's paint.......but that's because the paint is old......can't wait to use it up!  it's an enamel......I'm used to the nuances I sometimes get.   is your air brush a gravity or siphon feed........might also be a factor.

 

nice paint work on the hull.....the darker tinting really looks nice.   about tying the aircraft down on deck?.......I think that's what all the deck circles are for.

   when the aircraft are brought out on deck,  they are lashed in place with short lanyards.....removed before take off.

[RGL]

19 hours ago, CDW said:

It's the worst I ever had this Vallejo paint come out of the bottle. Don't know why. Most people I talk to say they use Vallejo Model Air paint straight from the bottle into their airbrush without any reducer. It doesn't work that way for me through my H&S airbrush. If I use it straight from the bottle, it will clog my airbrush every time...and I have even tried it with a larger needle and seat with the same results. Clogs, spitting, and sputtering. It's hard as heck to find a reduced mix ratio that will spray smoothly out of my airbrush.

I have some AK Interactive paints on order as they are not available locally, but I was too impatient for them to arrive. 

Vajello does not like me either, I just refuse to use it now. Unless your OCD is soo bad you just have to have exactly the correct colour near enough is good enough. There are so many shades of grey between Tamiya and Mr Colour and other colours they have nearly all you’ll ever need. 

[CDW]

4 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

are you thinning with water...or something else? 

I always use the manufacturer's reducer with their own paints, Vallejo reducer in this case. But this bottle could be as much as 2 years old, not really sure when I bought it. 

[CDW]

Anti-foul paint, hull stabilizers, thrust jets, and sonar added.

[RGL]

Nice work! Looks like a space ship....

[CDW]

Another day, a little closer to the finish line. Must add decals, railing, misc. photo etch. a few odd and end parts, some detail painting/weathering, and a flag to call this finished.

[Old Collingwood]

Looking really smart  you have done a marvelous job on the paintwork and weathering.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Thank you kindly OC for your positive comments. Also, thanks everyone for all the likes.

[CDW]

This is day 8 of this build. Tomorrow I have to attend a birthday party, so not sure if I can finish it then on day 9. But I am reasonably certain I can finish this little project by day 10. And that's about all the time I wanted to spend on this little model.

[cog]

I use vallejo with it's own thinner. I add between between 30 & 50% thinner - nearly forgot: in their Air products(!!!) _ when it's hot I add a few drops of their "retarder". I use several airbrushes, amongst others a H&S The only time it clogged in mine was when I used undiluted primer, which wasn't airbrush primer (I saw that later <sigh>). The G class destroyer is painted with vallejo too, only the grey and the primer are Tamiya, since I had that grey paint on the shelf, the rust is vallejo, and mig

 

Good job, not my shape of ship, glad I found your build log though

Edited August 4, 2018 by cog

[CDW]

24 minutes ago, cog said:

I use vallejo with it's own thinner. I add between between 30 & 50% thinner - nearly forgot: in their Air products(!!!) _ when it's hot I add a few drops of their "retarder". I use several airbrushes, amongst others a H&S The only time it clogged in mine was when I used undiluted primer, which wasn't airbrush primer (I saw that later <sigh>). The G class destroyer is painted with vallejo too, only the grey and the primer are Tamiya, since I had that grey paint on the shelf, the rust is vallejo, and mig

 

Good job, not my shape of ship, glad I found your build log though

Thanks for stopping by Carl.

I believe you are 100% correct about Vallejo paints. In spite of what is said elsewhere about model air paints being airbrush ready, they need 30 - 50% reducer for them to work properly. I have such a large collection of Vallejo paints, it would be too expensive to just give them up. However, I am beginning to experiment with other brands gradually. Problem is, many are not available locally and have to be ordered through the mail. 

[BETAQDAVE]

On 8/3/2018 at 2:56 AM, RGL said:

Nice work! Looks like a space ship....

    Perhaps something for the Space Farce?  

[cog]

I know the predicament of nearby stock ...

[CDW]

1 hour ago, BETAQDAVE said:

    Perhaps something for the Space Farce?  

If someone told us 50 years ago we were going to have warships like this in our navy fleet, we would have thought they were nuts. But here in 2018, this is the norm.

Welcome to the 21st century. 😮

[lmagna]

36 minutes ago, CDW said:

But here in 2018, this is the norm.

I don't know about normal but there are now 7 in service, 3 fitting out, 4 under construction, and 1 ordered in the class, so there must be something the Navy likes about the design.

[CDW]

Well, it's our designated "Littoral Combat Ship." Until now, I guess mostly Coast Guard Cutters would have fit that role. So in that respect, I think this design is the new normal - for this specialty, littoral combat. Not many combat ships I know of can operate in 12 feet of water.

[lmagna]

16 minutes ago, CDW said:

Not many combat ships I know of can operate in 12 feet of water.

There is this one as well:

 

 

According to Wikipedia, there are 9 in the class with 6 more to go.

 

i think this would make an interesting model as well. 

[lmagna]

Came across this one also.

 

[CDW]

Looking at the above picture from the angle it's taken, the ship has a strange looking dark tint to it. I wonder if the hull is coated with some kind of radar avoidance coating?

[Canute]

Craig, we can neither confirm nor deny that has happened here.